The latest Nielsen television audience measurement (TAM) figures in Ireland show the viewership of ads on Irish TV stations has fallen by 25% over the past two years.

Ireland's TV advertising market is worth an estimated €200m but a sustained migration from scheduled television to other formats such as online playback services connected to TV stations, and stand alone streaming sites like Netflix and YouTube.

The sharpest fall as been in the 15 to 34-year old age range which is a key target group for advertisers as more people 'cut the cord' and start watching all of their news and entertainment content online.

Adrian Weckler in the Irish Independent has highlighted this falloff and spoke to a spokesperson for TAM - who confirmed that the stats may confirm a significant move on the part of Irish viewers from measured channels such as those provided by RTE, TV3 and UTV Ireland to non-measured channels such as Netflix.

"With the growth of fragmentation there is more opportunity for viewers to watch non-measured commercial channels," she said - adding, "Commercial impacts are based on a much smaller number of channels, those that sell advertising directly into the Irish market."

Recent research from telecoms regulator, Comreg revealed that 14% of the 150,000 new Irish subscribers to Netflix have switched off from viewing scheduled TV or while 43% have significantly reduced their viewing

According to TAM's figures, adults between 25 and 44 are watching 26% less TV adds - the corresponding figure for adverts over 45 is 16%.